Ravens Middle Of Pack In Team Salaries

Looking at the NFL team salaries for the 2009-10 season (the recent 2010-11 season wasn't available), the Baltimore Ravens sit virtually in the middle of the pack in terms of total, average and mean salaries. Total salary is the combined total of what was spent on the entire roster. Average of course, means the total divided by the number of players on the roster while median is the mid-line, with half the players making more or less than that number.

According to The USA Today Salaries Databases, the Baltimore Ravens spent a total of $109,503,397 in 2009, ranking 15th in the NFL. In comparison, the New York Giants spent the most ($138,354,866) and the Kansas City Chiefs spent the least ($81,829,650) in 2009. Note that included in the team total is the full amount of any signing bonus given to a player that season, which could explain a lot about the discrepancies under what is supposed to be a Salary Cap.

The average salary for a Baltimore Ravens player was $1,795,137 and the median salary was $735,760. This means while the average might have been over $1.7 million, half the players on the roster made either more or less than the $735K median number. That takes into account all the players who basically make out the supporting cast for the high-priced star players such as Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, Domonique Foxworth, Matt Birk, Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, Jarret Johnson, Chris Carr and of course, Joe Flacco. Those guys, along with the now departed Trevor Pryce, all made more than $3 million as salaries (not their Cap Value) in 2009.

T-Sizzle led all Ravens, with a 2009 salary of $15,100,000 listed salary (includes his $10M signing bonus from that year). Ray Lewis , Matt Birk and Domonique Foxworth all had huge signing bonuses affect their 2009 salaries. At the bottom of the barrel was Lou Saucedo (who?) with a 2009 salary of $310,000. the most notable Raven nearest the bottom that received any visible paying time on the football field was rookie linebacker Dannell Ellerbe, whose $312,000 salary included his huge (!) $2,000 signing bonus, which is virtually nothing yet rare for an undrafted free agent to receive.

In this time of the NFL Lockout and labor negotiations that threaten to delay or, gasp, cancel the 2011 NFL season, I thought it would be interesting to remind the fans about the amazing amount of money these guys get from playing a very physical and violent game, yet a game nonetheless.